Be Serious

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Day One
Evening class, 23 March 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

I always keep telling you the same thing. How many times have you come? How many times have you done this parikrama? We do not practise Krishna consciousness seriously. Think seriously.

Every time when Srila Prabhupad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur finished this parikrama, everybody would come to see him before going back to their homes (everybody does it, you do it too). Everybody worries about their homes because they have been away for five-six days. Do you know what Srila Prabhupad would say? "Is your house on fire? Even then you do not have to go there. Let it burn. But we always think how much we have lost, we always worry about our rented house and in this way our life passes and finishes. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur says, "Jivana ha-ila sesa, na bhajile hrsikesa (জীবন হইল শেষ, না ভজিলে হৃষীকেশ). Your life is finished, you did not serve Hrisikesh!" This life has finished, and it is doubtful whether you will get a human birth again or not.

If you have any faith, you must keep good association—take shelter at the lotus feet of sadhus and practise Krishna consciousness. This is the only path for this life. Yet, we cannot sacrifice trifle things, cannot sacrifice our tongues' hankering—if I was to tell today that you can eat fish, meat, etc., everybody would become my disciples. For example, there is a matua community mainly in Bangladesh—they eat everything and say, "Hari bol"! There are such people in India also. How many people really want to serve and worship the Lord?

Practise strictly, regularly, offer bhog to the Lord, take prasad. "Ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya (যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায়). On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there." How many people think, "I will wake up in the morning every day and do mangal-arati, serve the Lord, practise Krishna consciousness"?

"Ye dina grhe bhajana dekhi grhete goloka bhaya (যে দিন গৃহে ভজন দেখি গৃহেতে গোলোক ভায়). On the days when I see devotional service taking place in my home, I feel that Goloka has manifested there." Practise every day. You can turn your house into a temple! You do not have to make domes for that—you do not have to put stone or marble in the house for that. You can do Tulasi parikrama at home. If you do Tulasi parikrama, you get the result of doing Vrindavan parikrama. Many people keep Tulasi at home, they offer incense, water, blow the conch, but they do not make space for Tulasi parikrama. You must do parikrama of Tulasi Devi—circumambulate Tulasi four times in the morning and four times in the evening. When you go outside, you must obeisance to Tulasi, and when you return pay obeisance to Tulasi again. If you serve Tulasi, you will get devotion.

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